7 Reasons We Have Clutter and What To Do About It

​Do you look around at the clutter in your home and wonder how you got there?  You had no intention of accumulating all that stuff but somehow, it just happened.  It slowly accumulates over time until you reach the point that it has to be dealt with! We all have our reasons for the clutter in our lives. And many of those reasons are exactly what’s preventing you from dealing with the clutter.
1. Overbuying - Do you ever walk into the store with a list of 5 things to buy and walk out with a full cart?  All those aisle displays are there for a reason. The stores know they can entice you and get you to impulse buy. The best thing you can do is make sure you have a list of what you need and put on blinders to everything else you walk by. Commit to only buy what’s on the list every time you walk into a store.
2. Wasteful - No one wants to waste their hard-earned money. When you have things sitting around your home that you’ve purchased and that have served a purpose at one time or another, it’s hard to let them go. Remember, if you spent money on it and used it, it did serve a purpose. But now, it’s collecting dust and needs to move on. Try gifting or donating it to someone else who can use it so you’re not just throwing it in the trash. 
3. Blindness - We can easily become blind to our surroundings. You look at the same things day after day and they eventually become invisible. Try walking around as if you’re a stranger and notice what looks out of place or needs to be tidied up
4. Sentimental - How many times have you inherited something or been given a gift you will never use? We have an emotional attachment to these kinds of items which makes it more difficult to let them go. Consider taking pictures of the items so that you’ll always have the memories and keep them in a book that you can look at and reminisce.
5. Scarcity mentality - Many people grew up with very little or the threat of never having enough. This can become so engrained in us that we refuse to let things go. Consider a garage sale. Save the money you make from selling your unused items and set it aside for a time you may need to purchase similar things in the future.
6. I can’t - As my husband says, I can’t means I don’t want to :) Change your mindset! Change the words you say to yourself. Your brain will believe what you tell it to believe so repeat the right things over and over again. I can, not I can’t.
7. Procrastinating - I’m too busy, I don’t know where to start, I have no motivation to do it.... You are spending more time dealing with living around clutter than you would if you dedicated an afternoon to starting the process of decluttering. Start with one item at a time until you’ve got one whole room done. The sense of accomplishment and freedom you’ll feel looking into that decluttered room will be the motivation you need to keep going.